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Prosimian sensory capacities

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Abstract

This paper reviews laboratory research on sensory capacities of prosimians. Most investigations to date have concentrated on visual and auditory sensitivity with relatively little attention directed toward olfactory and gustatory sensitivity. Diurnal prosimians have at least rudimentary color vision and appear deficient to anthropoids in other visual measures such as acuity. The most striking difference between prosimian and anthropoid auditory sensitivity is the increased sensitivity of the former group to high frequencies. No psychophysical data have been published on olfactory sensitivity of prosimians, but the relatively large olfactory areas in their brains and their propensity for scent marking strongly suggest that they have acute olfactory sensitivity. Most data on gustatory thresholds in prosimians does not permit sensitivity estimation since the data are joint functions of sensitivity as well as preferences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, California State University, 90032, Los Angeles, California, USA

    James L. Fobes

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 85271, Arizona, USA

    James E. King

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  1. James L. Fobes
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  2. James E. King
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Fobes, J.L., King, J.E. Prosimian sensory capacities. Primates 18, 713–730 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02383146

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